Lethargic chicken

[G R I]

I have 4 chickens. 1 Rhode Island Red, 1 aracauna and 2 barred rocks.
3 weeks ago my red started laying again. Almost everyday. And noticed that some times she would be crouched down by the feeder kind of hiding. Usually my chickens want nothing to do with me but the red has been very lazy and lethargic acting and stopped laying a week ago.
So yesterday I decided to treat the girls to some peach yogurt. She was over by herself and wasn't moving so I put the yogurt in front of her and she went to town. As soon as I backed away the other chickens came over and chased her away. So I watched some more and noticed that they were beating up on her.
Is it because she is sick? Or did they make her sick? Are they made she was laying?
Not sure what to do.
Thx

 

[GoldenChicks16]

It's possible that your chicken is just on the bottom of the pecking order. How long has she been with these other chickens? Is it getting so bad that shes not able to eat or drink because they keep chasing her away? You may have to separate her for a while in order for her to get her strength back. Is she showing any other signs of sickness? Pale comb, discharge from her nose?

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

I'm with Golden. More info is needed. Also, when in doubt isolate. If your bird isn't acting the way she normally does then most likely something is wrong!

 

[G R I]

They have all been together from the beginning of their lives. They are almost 2 years old. No other symptoms other than just slow acting

 

[GoldenChicks16]

Is your chicken molting (losing feathers)? Sometimes this causes chickens to pick on another chicken and would also account for her slow movement (as sometimes they lose energy during this period) and her not laying eggs anymore. Of course I would isolate her in case she is sick with something and to let her recuperate. I'm not sure what would be wrong with her since there are no other symptoms. Feed her some vitamins and some calcium (crushed tums also works) on the side in addition to her food.

 

[G R I]

She isn't molting but the others just finished. I will separate her tonight and see what happens. Thank you all for the help

 

[G R I]

I didn't get a chance to separate her. I put some new full grown chickens and a rooster in there Saturday and the pecking order had to be reestablished. The next day the Rhode Island Red looked ten times better and was moving around. The. 3 that were picking on her were now being picked on by the new ones. So I think it's given her the rest she needed

 

[GoldenChicks16]

So glad to hear that!

 

[G R I]

Just an update. Yesterday I noticed her being lethargic and didn't have time to check her over. I woke up in the morning to check on her and look her over. She was dead. Don't know what happened but she did seem to be an outcast that nobody wanted around for some reason.
The other problem is that one of my barred rocks is now acting weird. Her eyes were crusted shut and she had a yellow cheese like lump on her wattle. I also noticed in the last couple of days the chickens I just introduced are not laying as much as they were. I was getting 1-2 eggs one day then 3 the next. Now it's 1 egg a day. The chickens I've had for two years had stopped laying all together back in the beginning of October. Then most of them molted towards the end of oct. So I just figured that was what it was.
Not sure what is going on but something is wrong. I separated the barred rock until she is better, if she will. Any ideas or help is appreciated. Thank you

 

[G R I]

Any help is greatly appreciated